By Hafsa Obeng
Accra, Sept. 23, GNA – Mr Emmanuel Frimpong, a Tourism Consultant and Analyst, has called on African countries to move beyond commemorating Pan-African heroes and translate their ideals into practical economic, political and social action.
He said Africa’s annual celebrations of the lives and contributions of Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, Dr W.E.B. DuBois and George Padmore must be accompanied by concrete efforts to build a self-reliant and economically integrated continent.
Mr Frimpong made the call in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, on Tuesday, in Accra following the 2026 memorial lectures organised by the Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum, an agency under the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts.
The memorial lectures featured Prof. P.L.O. Lumumba, public speaker; Lawyer Dr Yaw Anokye Frimpong, private legal practitioner and historian; and Mr Fiifi Fiavi Kwetey, General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
Mr Frimpong said while commemorating the Pan-Africanists was important for preserving Africa’s history, the true value of their legacy lay in applying the principles for which they lived.
He said Africans have not done enough to advance economic integration, strengthen research and knowledge institutions and build organisations capable of advancing African interests in the contemporary global environment.
“If Nkrumah spoke about African unity, have we done enough today to make African economic integration work”, he said
Mr Frimpong also questioned what was being done to strengthen African knowledge, research and intellectual institutions, in line with DuBois’ contribution to confronting racial inequality and advancing the dignity of African p eople.
He said Padmore’s commitment to African liberation and political organisation should inspire efforts to build strong institutions capable of promoting African interests.
Mr Frimpong noted that Africa continued to export raw materials and import many finished products made from those resources, describing the situation as an indication of the continent’s need to reorganise its political, economic, intellectual and cultural resources.
He cited cocoa and chocolate, minerals and manufactured products as examples of the imbalance, while noting that Africa also possessed significant agricultural, cultural and natural tourism assets.
On Pan-Africanism, Mr Frimpong said it must go beyond the slogan of African unity to facilitate intra-African trade, movement, transportation, financial cooperation, education, tourism and entrepreneurship.
He called for stronger African airlines, financial institutions, universities and businesses capable of operating across national borders.
“Pan-Africanism must move from the conference hall to the marketplace,” he said.
Mr Frimpong argued that Africa’s next phase of liberation should focus strongly on economic capacity, urging African countries to build domestic capital, enterprises and industries capable of creating jobs and financing development.
He said African youth also needed functioning industries, quality education, research opportunities, access to capital and technology, as well as opportunities to travel, trade and collaborate across the continent.
Mr Frimpong proposed that future commemorative events should end with measurable action plans and commitments to ensure that celebrations produced tangible results.
He said Africa possessed considerable resources, including a youthful population, natural resources, technology, universities, entrepreneurs, creative industries, cultural diversity, a large consumer market and the African Continental Free Trade Area.
“The question is therefore not whether Africa has potential, but whether Africa has the collective discipline to convert its potential into power, prosperity and progress,” he said.
He urged Africans to continue preserving the memories, libraries, archives and historic sites associated with Nkrumah, DuBois, Padmore and other Pan-Africanists, while building the institutions and opportunities they envisioned.
GNA
Edited by Kenneth Odeng Adade
Reporter: Hafsa Obeng